How would you describe the water from your tap? Metallic, fresh, tasteless, chlorinated, bland, clean...? 80% of water taste testers preferred the taste of our bottled water samples at UM Dearborn's Water Expo. We hosted a blind taste test as part of their Sustainability Week. Along with bottled natural spring water, we had a sample from the bottle refill station at a local grocery store and the campus tap water. Last year we had a similar event where the preference was about tied, so we were surprised at the overwhelming preference for bottled water this time around. Sometimes tap water wins, sometimes it doesn't. If you don't like the taste of your tap, do you filter it, put up with it, or pay for another source?
At what cost?
With our cultural emphasis on hydration and effective marketing, many have just gotten in the bottled water habit. See this 20/20 episode on the impact of marketing - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3QBZac3MSY - which also mentions that some bottled water is just tap water conveniently packaged.
If you watched the movie "F.L.O.W.", you might recall the dispute between commercial access to cheap water, the transfer of water out of a local watershed and the differing regulatory oversight of municipal vs bottled water. Here's a trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGd9D4J0lag.
Objections about bottled water also include the production and disposal of the plastic bottle itself, the environmental burden caused by trucking water across the country, and the comparatively high price per gallon.
Visit this website to learn about the energy-intensive production of bottled water and other important factors: http://www.responsiblepurchasing.org/purchasing_guides/bottled_water_university_edition/social_environ/
To avoid the plastic problem, the convenience of bottled water can be met by refillable containers. UM Dearborn has a bottle-filling adaptation on the drinking fountain at the University Center, so students can refill any container with chilled tap water. It does taste better cold. The UMD Student Environmental Association is working to get rid of all plastic bottles on campus with an emphasis on sustainability, but refillable containers help budgets as well. The current decline in bottle water sales are most likely related to the economic downturn. http://moneyland.time.com/2010/02/01/bottled-water-taste-test-challenge/
Tap Water vs Frack Water
This particular taste test included 'natural spring water' from a region threatened by fracking. What will be the results if fracking fluids impact the source? With complaints about water quality coming out of these regions, it may be even more important to know where our drinking water has been and what has been done to it. Start your studies by reading here: http://www.americanrivers.org/our-work/protecting-rivers/fracking/?gclid=CPGH-Lyw8KsCFYlM4AodWBRpIg
